Pakistani, Bangladeshi militants have formed nexus against India: DG BSF

By Pinaki Das Agartala, Dec 5, (ANI): Pakistani militants have formed a strong nexus with militants in Bangladesh and are taking advantage of the porous border in the eastern border areas to carry out attacks in the hinterland of India, according to Director General of Border Security Force (BSF), A K Mitra. “A strong nexus has emerged between Pakistan-based terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) of Bangladesh,” Mitra told reporters on his arrival here. He is on a two-day visit of the State to review the situation along the border with Bangladesh. “The western frontier (with Pakistan) is relatively alright, but the militants are using the Indo-Bangladesh border to enter into the mainland of India. We have authentic reports that militants are using Bangladeshi territory for entering India clandestinely through porous borders,” he said, adding that during the last six months 14 militants of LeT and JeM were arrested in South Bengal border while they were trying to sneak into India from Bangladesh. He also said that in spite of apprehension of a huge infiltration with the declaration of emergency in Pakistan, the situation did not turn out to be so. Speaking about the recent terror attacks in the country including the multiple blasts in Uttar Pradesh, Mitra said that circumstantial evidences point to a kind of a joint mission by the banned Bangladesh militant group HuJI along with the LeT and the JeM. Mitra’s statement comes on a day when Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal told the Rajya Sabha that insurgent groups active in the north-eastern States have developed links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). These insurgent groups are using Bangladesh territory as their hideouts. Indian intelligence agencies believe that HuJI militants in connivance with JeM ultras are conducting terror strikes in the country at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI, and suspect the Bangladesh-based terror group behind this year’s Uttar Pradesh, Ajmer and Hyderabad blasts and last year’s Malegaon blasts at a mosque. Mitra said that infiltration along the India-Bangladesh border could not be completely plugged since the frontier was porous, and added that the ongoing border fencing and construction of roads would help in reducing it. According to the BSF, a total of 6,617 Bangladesh nationals were apprehended during the first 10 months this year compared to 9,679 in 2006. Mitra said that over 140 camps of anti-India insurgent groups still exist in Bangladesh, which Bangladeshi authorities refuse to admit it. Tripura, which has 857-km long border with Bangladesh, has 13 air maintained border outpost posts in inaccessible areas. India shares a 4,0960-km long border with Bangladesh that has 2,979 kms of land and 1,116 km of river frontiers. The BSF has been able to fence only 66 percent of the land border, and only 277 kms of the border area is covered under floodlights that is affected by frequent electricity failures and rainfall. (ANI)